1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to kinetic wind driven mobiles that include a luminair for providing useful indirect room lighting. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved decorative illuminating light mobile apparatus that includes a support member affixable to a floor, wall, ceiling, or the like, a first swivel that extends away from the support member, and a plurality of serially stacked and connected appendages that are independently rotatable with respect to an adjacent appendage in a non-axial fashion. At least some of the appendages include a light source that is powered by electricity. At least a plurality of the appendages have two rotational connections that are spaced apart along the length of the appendage.
2. General Background
Kinetic art has been around since the turn of the century. The artist Alexander Calder invented what has commonly been called the mobile. A mobile can be defined as a decorative, three dimensional art object mounted in a hanging position and is free to move in any of its planes. The mobile has pleased countless amounts of people with its ability to transform itself into an infinite amount of configurations holding ones interest the same as the sight of clouds on a lazy summer day.
The effect can also be quite soothing and almost mesmerizing because it transforms itself gracefully with the slightest breeze.
Patents have issued for mobiles and artistic sculptures having a series of independently rotating arms some of which carry light emitting sources (e.g. candles).
One mobile is a design patent to Blake (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 229,576 issued 1973), which shows a "candle chandelier mobile" in which a calder-type mobile includes a number of somewhat independently movable, laterally extended arms (e.g. two or four), each of which carries at least one candle at the end of the arm or candles at both ends of each arm. Presumably the moving candles would create changing patterns of light on the ceiling, if there was a feature that was built into the design that would cause it to move with ambient air currents. In the '576 patent, a mechanical chandelier device uses S-hooks to form connections between each of a plurality of beams wherein the lowest beam has a counterweight in one embodiment and wherein each beam supports a candlestick at one end. In a second embodiment, there are two beams that are connected with a cable that is pinned or bolted to brackets that attach to horizontal beams having candlesticks at each end. The arms of the design are made of nothing more than metal rods with little surface area to catch the wind, and there is no provision to shield the candle flame from being extinguished from the wind necessary to move the arms of the mobile. It is unlikely that this device could be moved to change shape with anything other than a direct and steady human touch.
The novelty and desirability of producing light patterns on a ceiling using electric lights was noted in the patent to Cilurzo (U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,770 issued in 1958), which discloses the use of such a light inside a container with a lens at its upper end. Cilurzo also suggest a combined use of a plurality of such "mood" lights "mounted together on a standard by swivel means" (col. 4, lines 21+). This design relies on a fixed lens mounted next to the light source in the same way that a movie projector is configured.
A support for holding candles and the like is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. D 275,627. In the '627 patent, hooks attach one ring to another ring so that a plurality of rings are spaced vertically apart. Each ring carries a support that can hold a plant or candleholder.
A mobile ornament is disclosed in U.S. Pat. D 171,594 wherein one of the members is an elongated triangular shaped appendage that supports other articles from its two end portions with cables.
A lighted fiberoptic mobile is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,047. In the '047 patent, the mobile has objects or characters attached to its appendages and can emit active (twinkling or sequencing) colorful light. This is accomplished by utilizing optic fibers to transmit light from a light source in the mobiles central housing to objects or characters or a given location on the appendages. The light is made active and colorful at the output end of the optic fibers by placing a light influencing slide between the light source and the input end of the revolving optic fibers that are routed from the appendages and are grouped together in front of the light source. Four arms extend radially from a central hub. Each of the arms carries a single star. The stars are at the same elevation and the stars do not support additional portions of the mobile. This differs from the present invention in that the present invention uses a series of vertically stacked and separated appendages each of which carries a light source and each of which rotates 360 degrees with respect to the other appendages in a non-coaxial fashion.
Other patents possibly relevant to the present invention include U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,645 entitled "Illuminating Earring with Coaxial Conductor Arrangement". The '645 patent includes a light emitting diode (LED) mounted upon a base. A battery containing cases electrically and mechanically connected to the base through a hollow shaft and conductor coaxial arrangement dimensioned to pass through a hole in a pierced ear so that current flow between the LED and the batteries takes place only through the hole in the ear when the earring is worn and operational.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,770 issued to V. F. Cilurzo provides a "Abstract Pattern Lamp Projecting Means".